Reversing the Broken Window Syndrome: Saving Your Neighborhood Through Activism

I live in a neighborhood that once had a rather high percentage of slum properties. You all know the types. These are the places where weeds are three feet tall, the cars are parked up on the yard, and half a year's worth of litter has piled up around the front door. The property owner doesn't care if his investment looks like a dump, and is unmotivated to clean things up, as long as he continues to draw the rent checks.

Trashy homes often have a negative impact on adjacent residences, which can lead to urban flight. And, once the homeowners and conscientious renters have left, the neighborhood becomes a less desirable place to live. Without anyone left to "mind the store", the instances of trashy behavior increases. A neighborhood that sends a strong message of apathy, is more prone to vandalism, litter, graffiti, and loitering. Emboldened by the lack of neighborhood concern, meth labs, prostitution houses, and party pads for drug use and under aged alcohol consumption soon follow.

The Broken Window syndrome

Neighborhood police officers used to refer to this as the Broken Window syndrome, based on a theory by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, who wrote "Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety" in the March 1982 issue of Atlantic Monthly. The Broken Window theory explained that signs of decay, such as abandoned vehicles, litter, broken windows and graffiti led to rapid neighborhood deterioration, resulting in increased crime (source: www.cityofseattle.net/police/prevention). While the broken window theory has come under attack by critics, in our neighborhood, the trickling down effect of the "broken window" was very visible.

On those blocks where properties had been turned into slums, we saw the highest instances of drug use, teenage alcohol use, and other crimes including burglary and rape. Adjacent neighbors who were worried about their safety sold their homes. These places were quickly picked up by slumlords who rented to other miscreants. What were once viable family homes became flop houses, and the crime statistics for our neighborhood climbed rapidly.